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Category: Truck Series

NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series news and information

  • Driver Analysis: Austin Cindric

    Driver Analysis: Austin Cindric

    It seemed as though the 2017 season was a wild start for many drivers including Austin Cindric, driver of the No. 19 Ford F-150. On the first lap of the season, he, along with others, was collected in a Lap 1 crash that took out most of the field. A 27th-place finish at Daytona was not the way the Columbus, Ohio driver was hoping to start out.

    His first top 10 of the season came at Kansas where he finished 10th. At Dover, he earned his first ever top five, finishing fifth. The following week at Fort Worth, Cindric was involved in a crash on Lap 28 taking him out early, with the scoring pylon showing him 25th that night. When the summer months came around, his finishes began to improve, as he scored his career-best finish of fourth at Kentucky.

    “We had an awesome LTi Printing Ford F-150 all night and it was cool to have those guys here at the track,” Cindric said. “Getting to race around Kyle Busch and learn from him was a huge plus for me. For the first time this year, we finished where I feel like we deserved to, and I’m really proud of the effort.  Doug [Randolph, crew chief] did an awesome job making sure we were stable enough for the race, and the pit crew was fantastic. We need races like this for the rest of the season. I learned a lot and I’m really proud of that.”

    He continued to finish inside the top 10 in the following races throughout the summer months, including having a controversial first ever career win at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park. On the last lap of the race, Cindric gave his friend Kaz Grala a bump, spinning Grala out as Cindric went on to win and collect a spot in the 2017 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Playoffs. For Cindric, however, it felt like a must-win situation.

    “It was an incredible weekend for this Draw-Tite team,” he said. “We unloaded and were fast right away and I’ve got to thank Doug [Randolph, crew chief] and all the guys at BKR for that. I’m not sure there was one highlight I saw all week where there wasn’t somebody getting into the back of somebody else to win the race, but I hate that it came down to that. I’ve known Kaz for a long time and I think he, or anyone else, would have done the exact same thing with that much on the line.

    “The way NASCAR’s point system is now, you have to win and you’re in the playoffs. I feel like this team deserves the win and I feel like it’s going to uplift everyone in the shop. This truck was brand new and purpose built for this race, and I had to carry out my job and win the race. My experience road racing was what was able to get me from 16th to ninth on a restart and ninth to fourth on the next restart. I feel like, without that experience, I wouldn’t have won today.”

    When the Playoffs began at Loudon, Cindric finished inside the top 10 for two races and finished inside the top five in four races, including a second at Fort Worth. With those consistent finishes, he clinched a spot in the Championship 4, competing for his first championship.

    “It means the world to me to put Brad Keselowski Racing in the Championship 4,” Cindric said. “It’s a huge opportunity for me and for everyone on this team, especially since this is the last race for BKR. I’ve got thank everyone for putting their heart and soul into this program. It’s also really special to have Draw-Tite and REESE Brands on our Ford F-150 this weekend. Horizon Global has been a longtime partner with BKR and it’s incredibly special to have them along for the ride this weekend. I’ve never raced at Homestead, so I’m getting as much information and talking to as many people as I can. We are the underdog, and I love that. It’s going to be critical for me to get up to speed and understand the balance of the race truck.”

    When it was finally time for the Championship 4 weekend at Homestead, the former No. 19 driver qualified third for the Ford 200. In Stages 1 and 2, Cindric finished sixth in both. He ran as high as second and as low as 11th and ran about fourth throughout the race. Cindric was never able to lead a lap in the final event of the season. As 2017 came a close, he finished fifth, third among the Championship 4 standings. Despite finishing fifth in the race, Cindric wanted a little more.

    “We had better short-run speed in our Draw-Tite Ford F-150 than anybody else,” he said. “If we would have had one more restart there, it would have been a lot of fun. We wish we could have brought home a championship on Ford Championship Weekend. I drove my heart out to try and get by the No. 4 of Bell. I had to start trying some things. I tried the top there and was able to get around Crafton on the last lap with a slide job for third in the championship. I’m really pumped about that. I love these guys. I’m so excited for the future. I hope we get to work with some of these guys moving forward and I know that I’m blessed to be where I am.”

    With Brad Keselowski Racing not fielding an entry for quite some time in the Truck Series, the 2018 season will see Cindric competing in the NASCAR XFINITY Series by sharing a ride with Chase Briscoe in the No. 60 Roush Fenway Racing Ford.

    In 2017, he collected one win, eight top fives and 16 top 10 finishes, along with an average start of 9.1 and an average finish of 10.2 with 106 laps led.

    For more news on Austin Cindric, follow him on Twitter @AustinCindric and on Instagram @AustinCindric.

     

     

  • Driver Analysis: Chase Briscoe

    Driver Analysis: Chase Briscoe

    Chase Briscoe was coming off his winning ways in the ARCA Racing Series by winning the championship in 2016. He was looking to add to that winning tradition in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series during the 2017 season.

    The year started off decently for the Mitchell, Indiana driver with a third-place finish at Daytona. He had a couple of setbacks at Atlanta (25th) and Martinsville (11th). However, Briscoe started to pick up consistency after winning the pole at Dover. He lost by mere inches at Fort Worth but finished inside in the top 10 for the most part with exceptions at Kentucky and Bristol. His highest finish of the season was second place, three times, at Fort Worth, Gateway and Chicago.

    Despite having great consistency throughout the summer months, it was announced by Brad Keselowski (owner of Brad Keselowski Racing) that the BKR Team would shut down at the end of the season, leaving Briscoe and his teammate Austin Cindric without rides at that point for the 2018 season. That announcement did not affect Briscoe’s strong runs, however, as he would clinch a spot in the Playoffs and compete for the 2017 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series championship.

    When the Playoffs started, Loudon saw him finishing 11th followed by a third at Las Vegas. Unfortunately, Briscoe collected finishes of 22nd and 19th at Talladega and Martinsville, respectively. Due to those finishes, he ultimately ended his chance for a championship title.

    Briscoe spoke about the Martinsville race, saying, “We were fast early in the race, but then started to get tight in the middle and we lost forward drive during the second stage. We lost track position on our second pit stop and that put us back with guys who were getting a little impatient and taking it three wide. That’s how we got on the losing end of a chain reaction and got some heavy left-side damage. There wasn’t a whole lot we could do once we were a lap down without a well-timed caution. We’ve still got three races we can win before the end of the season, and we all feel really good about Texas next week. Hopefully, we can finish out this season on a high note.”

    It’s what could have been though for the former No. 29 Ford F-150 driver. Briscoe had strong runs at Fort Worth (fourth) and Phoenix (fourth), then took the checkered flag at Homestead, winning his first ever Truck Series race. Had he not been eliminated from the Playoffs, we would be talking about a different champion for the 2017 season.

    “First off, we had a really good truck, and I can’t thank Brad and everyone at BKR enough,” Briscoe said. “For us to be shutting down and still bringing trucks that can win races and sit on poles, especially with me being out of the Playoffs, is a testament to how these BKR guys are. They continued to keep fighting for us. Our pit crew was absolutely on it tonight and allowed us to gain spots and get out in front. Once we got to the lead, I felt confident that we had the speed to hold everyone off until the end, but I thought we were going to have a caution because that seems to be how our luck has been all year long. There wasn’t one, and we were fortunate enough to go on and win. I didn’t think it would take this long, but I’m so glad we’re here. Thank you so much to Ford for believing in me this year as well. Two years ago I was sleeping on couches and now I’m a NASCAR winner.”

    When 2017 ended, he had collected one win, 10 top fives and 14 top 10 finishes, with an average start of 6.7 and an average finish of 8.5. Briscoe also led 288 laps.

    The young 23-year-old will be taking his teammate Austin Cindric along with him to Roush Fenway Racing next year, as both of them will be splitting rides in the No. 60 in the 2018 NASCAR XFINITY Series season.

    For more news on Chase Briscoe follow him on Twitter @ChaseBriscoe.

  • Driver Analysis: T.J. Bell And Regan Smith

    Driver Analysis: T.J. Bell And Regan Smith

    T.J. Bell and Regan Smith are NASCAR Camping World Truck Series regulars. This season marked Bell’s 15th year in the series, while it was Smith’s sixth year. Smith made 13th starts while Bell made 15 starts in the 2017 season.

    Smith made his first start of the year at Daytona International Speedway by qualifying 25th and finished sixth after the last lap melee, while Bell made his first start at Atlanta and finished 17th. Like most drivers who faced setbacks during the season, Smith had two DNF’s at Charlotte and Talladega, while Bell had five DNF’s at Dover, Iowa, Kentucky, Las Vegas and Phoenix.

    Despite having the DNF’s this season Smith’s sixth-place finish at Daytona was followed up by one more top 10 result at Dover where he finished seventh. Throughout the season, he averaged a 19.4 start and a 14.1 average finish.

    Bell, on the hand, had a 21.3 average start and a 19.9 average finish. Bell’s best finishes of the year came at Charlotte, Fort Worth and Pocono of 14th.

    When the season was over, Smith was scored 18th in the standings while Bell ended the year in 20th.

    Smith’s Twitter handle is @ReganSmith. You can follow T.J. Bell on Twitter at @TJBell_racing.

  • Driver Analysis: Parker Kligerman

    Driver Analysis: Parker Kligerman

    The 2017 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series driver analysis continues with Parker Kligerman.

    Kligerman, the 27-year-old out of Westport, Connecticut made seven starts in the Truck Series this season, including grabbing an upset win at Talladega. This was his seventh season racing in the Truck Series. Before the 2017 season, he had 11 starts in 2016 scoring one top five and three top 10 finishes, with a best finish of third at the famous Daytona International Speedway.

    However, 2017 got off to a rocky start for the No. 75 team of Kligerman and Henderson Motorsports. The team missed the first race of the season at Daytona by not being able to qualify for the event, which was disappointing not only for Kligerman who finished third in that race last year but for the team as well. A week later at Atlanta Motor Speedway, he qualified 19th but was relegated to a 31st place finish due to a fuel pump problem on Lap 28.

    But, the season started to turn around little by little for Kligerman and the No. 75 team. At Charlotte Motor Speedway, he placed 10th after starting ninth. Then, there was another setback at Dover where he was involved in a crash on Lap 96 and finished 21st.

    After a few rocky starts, the team started to pick up during mid-season. At Kentucky, Kligerman started 30th and finished seventh, and did the same thing at Bristol but finished one spot behind in eighth. He had a shining moment at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, where he had a shot to win the race on a late race restart after staying out but was shuffled to eighth.

    Kligerman would not race for the next three races until Talladega. The last time he won was at Talladega in 2012 when he scored his first ever career win. On this very weekend, he would wind up in victory lane again at Talladega, to capture his second career win. It was a sort of redemption for Kligerman as he missed the race last year by not qualifying for the race. It would also be his last race of the 2017 season in the Truck Series.

    At the end of the year, he averaged one top five and five top 10 finishes in seven starts. He led 11 laps and had two DNFs with an average start of 14.1 and an average finish of 12.3.

    You can follow Parker Kligerman on Twitter @Pkligerman and on Instagram @Pkligerman. For team news, you may follow Henderson Motorsports on Twitter @HendersonMotor1.

  • Driver Analysis: Justin Haley

    Driver Analysis: Justin Haley

    The 2017 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series season was a good one for Justin Haley who made all but two starts in the series. Prior to the ’17 season, he had only made six career starts driving the No. 32 Great Clips truck for Todd Braun in 2015 and 2016. His best finish in those years was seventh in 2015 at Phoenix. However, he upped that best career finish this year driving the No. 24 for Maury Gallagher’s GMS Racing Team.

    Haley’s 2017 season did not start until the third race of the year at Martinsville and it was a rough one for the young 18-year-old. He started 24th but wound up finishing 26th, four laps down. A week later at Kansas, Haley finished ninth after starting 12th. With the exception of Charlotte, he continued to have consistent finishes inside the top 10, scoring the best finish of his career with a third at Kentucky. Haley finished inside the top 10 from Dover all the way until Bristol, where he finished 11th.

    Haley’s moment to shine in the 2017 season came at Fort Worth, where he claimed his first ever pole position. He stayed strong in the race by finishing fifth.

    “It’s really encouraging to see how far this team has come in just the last few races.,” Haley said. “We’re showing a lot of speed late in the season and that just proves how hard these guys work day in and day out. This was such an up and down race, but we overcame the adversity, learned a lot and got a top-five finish out of it. We’ll take this momentum into Phoenix and Miami, and finish the year out strong.”

    In the final two races, he would finish 14th at Phoenix (crash) and ninth at Homestead. When the season ended, Haley wound up with three top five and twelve top 10 finishes, with 37 laps led and only two DNF’s. His average start was 11.4 with an average finish of 11.2.

    “The 24 guys and I finished off the year well,” he said. “It was a smooth night under the lights in Homestead. Mike Ford did a great job on the pit box calling the race for us. I can’t ask much more out of our rookie season together. Everyone that pitched in this year from the road crew, to the pit crew and the guys back home means the world to me.”

    You can follow Justin on Twitter @Justin_Haley_ and on Instagram @Justin.Haley

  • Driver Analysis: Cody Coughlin

    Driver Analysis: Cody Coughlin

    Cody Coughlin entered the 2017 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series for the third time of his career. This year, however, he would be driving full-time in the No. 13 Thorsport Racing truck after competing in the No. 51 truck of Kyle Busch Motorsports last year.

    He started out at Daytona by starting 17th and finishing 11th and earned 26 points after the day was over. In the coming weeks, Coughlin scored finishes of 16th and 19th at Atlanta and Martinsville, respectively. Driving the No. 13 RIDE/JEGS Toyota Tundra, he would end up averaging a 16.1 start and a 15.0 average finish.

    At the end of the season, Coughlin had collected one top five and three top 10 finishes, including nine laps led. In the closing laps at Talladega, however, he would take a wild ride after being involved in a multi-truck pileup and nearly flipping over on the frontstretch.

    Despite that crash, a week later at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Coughlin finished sixth. It was his best career finish at that time until Phoenix where he finished third after starting 13th.

    Coughlin talks about earning his best career finish after the Phoenix race.

    “After qualifying and the beginning of the race, I didn’t think we’d end up in the top five at all, so I’m really proud of the adjustments the guys made to our Toyota Tundra,” Coughlin said. “Everybody on the RIDE TV/JEGS.com Toyota worked great, and with our first top-five we are now looking forward to the finale in Homestead.”

    In the season finale at Homestead, he started 16th and finished 14th. When the season concluded, Coughlin had finished on the lead lap 12 times.

    “It wasn’t the night we wanted, but we battled all night long and finished higher than we ran,” Coughlin said. “I appreciate my guys fighting for me all night long, and all season long. I appreciate Duke and Rhonda Thorson for letting me drive their trucks this season. It has been a great experience.”

    Cody Coughlin’s Twitter handle is @Cody_Coughlin while his sponsor’s Twitter handles are @RideTV and @TeamJEGS.

  • Driver Analysis: Ryan Truex

    Driver Analysis: Ryan Truex

    The 2017 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series season was a wild one for the No. 16 driver, Ryan Truex, the brother of the 2017 Cup Series Champion. Like others, he was involved in an unfortunate Lap 1 accident at Daytona which ended his season opener very early.

    It was not until Martinsville where Truex would earn his first top 10 of the season. He continued his consistency in the top 10 by finishing sixth at Kansas, fourth at Charlotte, 10th at Dover, fourth at Fort Worth and seventh at Gateway. But, the following week at Iowa, Truex was out of the race on Lap 166 due to overheating and wound up finishing 20th. It did not get better a week later at Kentucky, when the Mayetta, New Jersey driver was involved in a crash that relegated him to a 23rd place finish.

    With the exception of Eldora and Bristol, Truex started to finish inside the top 10 again starting at Pocono, where he finished third. Chicago was home to the cutoff race for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. Truex needed to get enough points in order to make himself Playoff eligible. The day started off great for him as he started on the pole. He even won Stage 1 and finished eighth in Stage 2.

    When the night was done and over with, the scoring pylon showed the 25-year-old finished fourth. Unfortunately, it was not enough for Truex as he would miss the Playoffs by a tiebreaker.

    The Playoff races were rocky for Truex. He would finish inside the top five only twice (Loudon, Homestead). At Talladega, he was collected in a crash on Lap 19 and went on to finish 28th. Martinsville saw him finishing 13th with a 19th at Phoenix after another crash. Although, at the season finale, he ended the season on a high note by starting sixth and finishing fourth.

    2017 saw Truex capture eight top fives and 13 top 10 finishes and lead 115 laps. He had an 8.9 average start and an average finish of  11.4, along with five DNF’s and two poles at Chicago and Las Vegas.

    For more on Truex’s racing career, you can follow him on Twitter @Ryan_Truex and on Instagram @Ryan_Truex.

  • Driver Analysis: Johnny Sauter

    Driver Analysis: Johnny Sauter

    The 2016 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series champion Johnny Sauter was looking to back up his reign in 2017 and go for two consecutive championships. It would have been the first time since Matt Crafton did it in 2013 and 2014.

    The season began with Sauter being involved in the last lap melee at Daytona which saw him place 16th in the season opener. He had a string of second place finishes at Martinsville, Kansas and Charlotte. Then, the No. 21 GMS Racing Chevy driver collected his first win of the season at Dover International Speedway. It was his 14th career win and his first since Martinsville of last year. With this win, Sauter claimed a playoff spot early in the 2017 season.

    “I can’t say enough about the way this season has started and the work that Joe (Shear, Jr., crew chief), the 21 team and everyone at GMS have put in,” Sauter said. “The last four races I’ve sat here and talked about how good things have been and how I felt a win was coming, but when it actually happens there is a bit of weight taken off our shoulders. I’m happy to finally get a win here, I’ve done pretty good here over the years, but this is definitely a track I’ve always wanted to win at. It’s not an easy place to do that so it feels like a big accomplishment.”

    Sauter continued to have solid finishes throughout the season until Eldora, where he started 14th and finished 23rd due to a spin and radiator problems. It was a tough outing for the 39-year-old.

    “I’m not a dirt racer in any sense of the word, so the best I could hope for was to survive and get a decent finish, but unfortunately it just wasn’t meant to be one of those races for us,” he said. “The Allegiant team did an amazing job repairing the truck after the wreck in practice and I thought, with the spin early on in the race, that we’d still be okay. The guys did a great job switching out the radiator as fast as they did, just wish I could have had a shot at a good finish there at the end. It was probably the most comfortable I’ve ever felt going into Eldora, and Joe (Shear, Jr., crew chief) and the team showed we’re making progress everywhere, so I’ve got nothing to hang my head about.”

    It was Sauter’s worst finish of the season in 2017. He and the GMS Racing team put that disappointing finish behind them by winning at Chicago, the final race of the season before the Playoffs began. Throughout the Round of 8 and 6, he had finishes of ninth at Loudon and 10th at Chicago. His only finish outside the top 10 occurred at Talladega where he placed 12th.

    After the 12th place finish at Talladega, Sauter placed third at Martinsville and won back to back at Fort Worth and Phoenix. With those wins in the Round of 6, he clinched a spot in the Championship 4 for the second time in his career. The win at Phoenix did not come easy, however, for Sauter.

    “We struggled during qualifying but once they dropped the green flag we had pretty good speed in our ISM Connect Chevy,” he said. “Track position is so important here and we were just in the right place at the right time at the end of the race. A lot of red flags there at the end but it was good for me to just be able to sit there and gather my thoughts and think through how I wanted to handle those last restarts and those last two were perfect as far as I’m concerned. This is a team effort. We’ve been in position to win at least seven races this year and this is our fourth so we’re getting hot at the right time.”

    On the day of the championship race at Homestead, Sauter and GMS Racing announced that he would return next year to the No. 21 Chevy.

    “I can’t thank the Gallagher family and Mike Beam enough for the opportunity they’ve given me the last two years,” Sauter said. “To be able to compete at this level, where you know you could win any given weekend, is incredible and I’m excited to be able to continue with the No. 21 team next year.”

    With the announcement behind him, it was time for him and the GMS Racing team to focus on what they set out to do at the beginning of the year, winning the championship. But qualifying did not go as well to plan for Sauter, as he would place 11th, third out of the four playoff drivers. With not a so great qualifying position, he worked his way up just a tad and finished eighth in Stage 1. In Stage 2, Sauter had a much better finishing position of fifth. Throughout the race, however, he ran as low as 14th and as high as third. He never could challenge that much for the lead, and when the race was over, Sauer finished third, one spot short of collecting his second consecutive championship.

    “We started the race way too free, the loosest I’ve been in I don’t know how long,” Sauter said. “We made some good adjustments on the first stop, but it just eventually went away on me and was still way too free. I could never commit to the top, I’d have to drive in the corner shallow. I thought we had a little bit for the 4 toward the end but I just couldn’t touch the throttle on corner exit. We gave it everything we had, but I guess that’s what you get when it comes down to one race like this. I’m proud of everyone’s effort at GMS Racing, we did a good job, we’ve just got a lot of work to do.”

    2017 marked his 14th year competing in the Truck Series for the 2016 champion. Stat wise, it was a great one for Sauter, despite falling one position short of the championship. He had four wins (Dover, Chicago, Fort Worth and Phoenix), 13 top fives and 19 top 10 finishes, including an average start of 5.2 and an average finish of 6.3 along with 455 laps led.

    It will be interesting to see what the 2018 season will bring for Johnny Sauter as he will be competing in his 15th season and searching for his second championship.

    For more information on Johnny Sauter, follow him Twitter @JohnnySauter and for team information @GMSRacingLLC.

     

  • Driver Analysis: Ben Rhodes

    Driver Analysis: Ben Rhodes

    Ben Rhodes was able to collect a win during the 2017 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series season. However, he had to wait until the playoffs race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway to do so. Before we get too far ahead of ourselves, let’s take a look at how Rhodes’s season went.

    Ben scored his first top-five finish of the season at Atlanta by finishing fourth. Kansas almost saw the site of his first ever win, but a blown motor with less than 10 laps remaining in the race resulted in a disappointing finish of 23rd. Since that Kansas race, he was a contender for every race with top five and top 10 finishes until Kentucky, where Rhodes crashed and then, a week later at Eldora, did not finish again.

    After the unfortunate two DNF’s, he started on the pole and finished second at the Pocono race. With a few strong runs in the summer months, Rhodes just barely qualified for the playoffs by one position after the Chicagoland race. While it can be intense for others, it was not quite as intense for Rhodes throughout the race.

    “I think I stayed calm the whole time, especially with stuff going on,” Rhodes said. “Being calm and relaxed in the truck paid off. I could have taken some really aggressive moves out there to get us further ahead on the restarts because it was definitely a clean air game, but we never took those moves. I’m glad we didn’t, who knows what would have happened.”

    He was just as excited being able to compete for the championship.

    “Man, I still can’t believe it. They gave me the hat and I’m like, ‘Are you sure this is ours?” he said. “They said we were tied and we had the tiebreaker and I can’t believe it. We struggled ever since we unloaded here. This was our worst performance overall, and it couldn’t have come at a worse week, but they said we’re in and overall it worked out for us. I have to say thank you to everybody that’s involved. Now we have to re-focus and get a lot stronger for the Playoffs because a lot of these guys that are in are already there, and they belong there, and we have to get a little bit stronger because tonight was not one of our best nights.”

    Rhodes started off the playoffs strong with a seventh at Loudon and scored his first ever win at Las Vegas by holding off Christopher Bell and advancing into the next round. It was a great feeling for him when the checkered flag flew.

    “There was uncontrollable screaming on the radio,” Rhodes said. “I don’t even know. This is the biggest high of my life. This is crazy. I just never thought it would come after so many things went wrong, and now it did and we’re here.”

    Unfortunately, he could not keep that momentum going as Rhodes had finishes of 23rd at Talladega, 18th at Fort Worth and a crash at Phoenix, ultimately ending his championship hopes.

    The season finale was not any better, as Rhodes finished 19th after starting second. He had one win, six top fives and twelve top 10 finishes along with an average start of 7.8 and an average finish of 12.4 among 203 laps led, along with five DNF’s.

    You can keep up to date with Ben Rhodes by following him on Twitter @BenRhodes and on Instagram @BenRhodes.

  • Driver Analysis: Kaz Grala

    Driver Analysis: Kaz Grala

    The 2017 season started off with a bang for the No. 33 GMS Racing driver Kaz Grala. The season opener saw him starting on the pole and winning the race after a last-lap crash on the backstretch. Since that Daytona finish, however, he was inconsistent with his finishes. Atlanta and Martinsville saw him finishing 15th, while Grala would finish eighth at Kansas scoring his second top 10 finish of the season. A week later at Charlotte, he was involved in a crash on lap 70 which relegated him to a 30th place finish.

    In the coming weeks at Dover, Fort Worth and Gateway, Grala finished second, 10th and 13th, respectively. The next time he finished inside the top-15 was at Michigan placing 12th. He had four DNF’s at Iowa, Kentucky, Eldora and Pocono. Bristol saw Grala finish 28th due to engine problems. Needless to say, the summer month stretch was a long one for the 19-year-old.

    With the Daytona win, he was already locked into the playoffs. Starting with Canada, Grala finished third and continued the consistent finishes in the top 10 until the elimination race at Talladega. It was a busy one for the GMS Racing driver as his team ended up changing an engine before the race. The race did not get that much better for Grala as on Lap 18, he was collected in a wreck which saw him being eliminated from the playoffs.

    “My No. 33 team, everyone at GMS Racing and at Hendrick Engines worked really hard to change that motor to get us out in time for the race,” Grala said. “From what I could tell, it still felt like we were the fastest Chevy out there. Starting in the back, I made a lot of good moves to be in a position to get stage points at the end of the first stage. I’m not quite sure what happened but everyone checked up. I slowed down and thought I was going to miss it, but the truck behind me didn’t get slowed down fast enough and turned us up into the wall ending our day. That put an end to our championship hopes, unfortunately, which is really a shame because I think this No. 33 team had really come alive in the later part of this season and I think we would have been a contender. We did our part in what we could control and I’m just super proud of my guys.”

    Since that unfortunate situation at Talladega, he had finishes of seventh, sixth, fifth and 13th at Martinsville, Fort Worth, Phoenix and Homestead, respectively.

    “The No.33 team fought hard tonight,” he said. “The track was much more loose than originally anticipated and it was just hard to ever get comfortable with the lack of grip on the track. My STEALTH Chevy was fast at the end of a long run, but at that point, track position was hard to get back. I can’t thank my guys enough for all their work, not only tonight but the entire season.”

    Grala ended the season with one win, five top fives and eleven top 10 finishes, with an average start of 10.2 and an average finish of 14.0, with seven DNF’s and 33 laps led. For 2018, he will be the driver of the No. 24 Ford of JGL Racing.

    Grala can be found on social media on his Twitter page @KazGrala and Instagram @KazGrala.